More Images

Feeling groovy

Vinyl has captured the hearts and ears of a new generation of music fans

Gary and Liz Baird have seen a increase in the interest in vinyl records over the last years. Their shop, Terrific Tunes, inside the Wildwood Antique Mall, offers popular old albums, rare items and 8-Track tapes.

Alan Youngblood/Star-Banner

By Tyler FrancischineCorrespondent

Published: Sunday, September 15, 2013 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, September 12, 2013 at 3:19 p.m.

Some savor those crackles and pops. Others find comfort in those spinning black grooves. Still others enjoy holding the album itself — reveling in the artwork, reading the liner notes and simply clasping that familiar texture in their hands.

Whatever the reason, vinyl has captured the hearts and ears of a new generation of music fans.

This is great news for record store owners, who have survived the decline of CD sales and the increasing popularity of illegal file sharing and legal MP3 downloads.

Andrew Schaer, who owns Hear Again Music and Movies in downtown Gainesville, said he's noticed increased vinyl sales for the past seven years, and it makes sense to him that more and more fans are making the switch from digital music to vinyl.

"Nothing is going to sound better than a new record. That's just a fact," he said. "When people hear the difference between vinyl and MP3s, which are what kids are used to hearing, they'll notice it's a very compressed form of music. With vinyl, they're hearing things they didn't hear in the MP3 version because of that compression. It's a warm and pure version of the album."

Nielsen SoundScan, gatherers of all entertainment-related data, reports that for the first six months of this year, sales of vinyl LPs increased 33.5 percent, while CD sales for the same period declined 14.2 percent. That may be due in part to major retailers such as Walmart and Target stocking record players and select LPs in their stores. F.y.e. stores now sell new vinyl records released by major artists from Nine Inch Nails and Artic Monkeys to Dave Matthews Band and Paul McCartney.

Gary Baird, owner of Terrific Tunes inside Ocala's Wildwood Antique Mall, said the largest group of returning customers are young people and collectors who place high value on vintage records. He said he sold one Elvis Presley album for $800.

"People are noticing again that vinyl is a lot clearer and better-sounding," he said. "If you close your eyes, you can picture you're at the live concert."

Schaer said record sales are a welcome development to artists who generally make the bulk of their income from touring. Gainesville rock band, Morningbell, released its latest album "Bôa Noite" on both CD and a limited run of 200 pearly white vinyl LPs.

"For the first time in years, artists are able to make money off their albums again," said Schaer. "When people's main medium of buying music is iTunes, artists are making literal cents off those forms of music sharing."

Daniel Halal, owner of Arrow's Aim Records in downtown Gainesville, said record sales are nothing new for many independent labels and artists, who have been producing vinyl for decades.

"Independent labels have survived the CD and MP3 boom," he said. "The reason for that is they were artist-driven, not financially driven. Major labels are exploiting the vinyl boom as much as they can right now."

Halal also is a collector. Over the past 15 years, he's built a library of 2,000 LPs and 1,000 7-inch records, mostly punk, hardcore, goth, noise and industrial music from the late 1970s and early 1980s. He said the physicality of vinyl, in a time of virtual realities and technology's omnipresence, is a welcome change for many people.

"It's true in the digital world we live in that there's a want for more physical things," he said. "The nostalgia and the physical aspect of vinyl is really important to people. It's like holding an artifact almost, or a piece of art. People say it's a ceremonial thing. It definitely makes you sit down and appreciate what you're hearing."

Ryan Baker, a doctor of audiology in Gainesville, has collected 6,000 records over the past 20 years. His favorites include Dirty Projectors' recent release "Swing Lo Magellan" because it was recommended to him by a friend before his passing from cancer, and Stevie Wonder's "Fulfillingness' First Finale" because it served as the soundtrack when he fell in love with his wife. He said listening to vinyl is more of a shared experience than listening to MP3s. He often gets together with friends to take turns selecting records and exploring musical ideas.

"There's a certain novelty of listening to vinyl that lends itself to social experiences," he said. "That may be one of those intangibles, but it gives me much more pleasure to listen to records than a CD."

He said much of that pleasure may be attributed to the full-bodied and realistic sound records produce.

"There's something special about vinyl sound, and I don't mean the pops and clicks and hisses. A well-manufactured record evokes a more emotional experience for me. There's a certain coldness in digital recording that vinyl overcomes," he said. "The artists intended these albums to be pressed on vinyl. Passages that sound harsh on a CD sound perfect on vinyl."

Jason Williams, a designer for an IT software solutions company in Gainesville, spends around $2,000 a year building his diverse collection of Led Zeppelin, Ritchie Valens and Sigur Ros records. He said vinyl lends itself to listening parties and musical discussion.

"I recently picked up the new Sigur Ros LP. My girlfriend and a couple of our friends sat down and listened from beginning to end while enjoying a nice bottle of wine and then discussed it. There's something about records for people who value music. They want to know how it was recorded, the message behind it, and they have experiences when listening to it. You don't get that with iTunes," he said.

Tina Doyle Villella, a science teacher at Ocala's Howard Middle School, said she was inspired by her 17-year-old son Braden's interest in records to listen to vinyl again. She said the experience has brought her family closer.

"It's gotten the family together," she said. "In the car on the way to school, the kids will have their headphones on, and I'll put my headphones in while running, but we'll put a record on before dinner and just spend time with each other."

These are the stories motivating Ocala DJ Stephen Wexler to open his own record shop in downtown Ocala. HC Vintage Vinyl is still in the planning stages, but Wexler said he's encouraged by the community support shown on the store's Facebook page. He envisions a space where people can listen to and discuss records, as well as an outlet for local acts to hone their skills.

"I don't want it to be just a record store," he said. "I want it to be a musical experience, like a comic book shop for music nerds."

Wexler said he was attracted to vinyl because of the hunt it requires. He scours yard sales and record shops to find his favorite albums. The first two he bought were Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Prince's "Purple Rain."

"It's like treasure hunting. You just don't know what you'll find," he said.

He said the more record shops and outlets there are for young people to become involved with vinyl, the longer this popularity will last.

"I hope vinyl stays around for good. It's an amazing format," he said. "We have to get young people introduced and involved in this."

<p>Some savor those crackles and pops. Others find comfort in those spinning black grooves. Still others enjoy holding the album itself — reveling in the artwork, reading the liner notes and simply clasping that familiar texture in their hands.</p><p>Whatever the reason, vinyl has captured the hearts and ears of a new generation of music fans. </p><p>This is great news for record store owners, who have survived the decline of CD sales and the increasing popularity of illegal file sharing and legal MP3 downloads.</p><p>Andrew Schaer, who owns Hear Again Music and Movies in downtown Gainesville, said he's noticed increased vinyl sales for the past seven years, and it makes sense to him that more and more fans are making the switch from digital music to vinyl. </p><p>"Nothing is going to sound better than a new record. That's just a fact," he said. "When people hear the difference between vinyl and MP3s, which are what kids are used to hearing, they'll notice it's a very compressed form of music. With vinyl, they're hearing things they didn't hear in the MP3 version because of that compression. It's a warm and pure version of the album."</p><p>Nielsen SoundScan, gatherers of all entertainment-related data, reports that for the first six months of this year, sales of vinyl LPs increased 33.5 percent, while CD sales for the same period declined 14.2 percent. That may be due in part to major retailers such as Walmart and Target stocking record players and select LPs in their stores. F.y.e. stores now sell new vinyl records released by major artists from Nine Inch Nails and Artic Monkeys to Dave Matthews Band and Paul McCartney.</p><p>Gary Baird, owner of Terrific Tunes inside Ocala's Wildwood Antique Mall, said the largest group of returning customers are young people and collectors who place high value on vintage records. He said he sold one Elvis Presley album for $800.</p><p>"People are noticing again that vinyl is a lot clearer and better-sounding," he said. "If you close your eyes, you can picture you're at the live concert."</p><p>Schaer said record sales are a welcome development to artists who generally make the bulk of their income from touring. Gainesville rock band, Morningbell, released its latest album "Bôa Noite" on both CD and a limited run of 200 pearly white vinyl LPs.</p><p>"For the first time in years, artists are able to make money off their albums again," said Schaer. "When people's main medium of buying music is iTunes, artists are making literal cents off those forms of music sharing."</p><p>Daniel Halal, owner of Arrow's Aim Records in downtown Gainesville, said record sales are nothing new for many independent labels and artists, who have been producing vinyl for decades.</p><p>"Independent labels have survived the CD and MP3 boom," he said. "The reason for that is they were artist-driven, not financially driven. Major labels are exploiting the vinyl boom as much as they can right now."</p><p>Halal also is a collector. Over the past 15 years, he's built a library of 2,000 LPs and 1,000 7-inch records, mostly punk, hardcore, goth, noise and industrial music from the late 1970s and early 1980s. He said the physicality of vinyl, in a time of virtual realities and technology's omnipresence, is a welcome change for many people.</p><p>"It's true in the digital world we live in that there's a want for more physical things," he said. "The nostalgia and the physical aspect of vinyl is really important to people. It's like holding an artifact almost, or a piece of art. People say it's a ceremonial thing. It definitely makes you sit down and appreciate what you're hearing."</p><p>Ryan Baker, a doctor of audiology in Gainesville, has collected 6,000 records over the past 20 years. His favorites include Dirty Projectors' recent release "Swing Lo Magellan" because it was recommended to him by a friend before his passing from cancer, and Stevie Wonder's "Fulfillingness' First Finale" because it served as the soundtrack when he fell in love with his wife. He said listening to vinyl is more of a shared experience than listening to MP3s. He often gets together with friends to take turns selecting records and exploring musical ideas.</p><p>"There's a certain novelty of listening to vinyl that lends itself to social experiences," he said. "That may be one of those intangibles, but it gives me much more pleasure to listen to records than a CD."</p><p>He said much of that pleasure may be attributed to the full-bodied and realistic sound records produce.</p><p>"There's something special about vinyl sound, and I don't mean the pops and clicks and hisses. A well-manufactured record evokes a more emotional experience for me. There's a certain coldness in digital recording that vinyl overcomes," he said. "The artists intended these albums to be pressed on vinyl. Passages that sound harsh on a CD sound perfect on vinyl."</p><p>Jason Williams, a designer for an IT software solutions company in Gainesville, spends around $2,000 a year building his diverse collection of Led Zeppelin, Ritchie Valens and Sigur Ros records. He said vinyl lends itself to listening parties and musical discussion.</p><p>"I recently picked up the new Sigur Ros LP. My girlfriend and a couple of our friends sat down and listened from beginning to end while enjoying a nice bottle of wine and then discussed it. There's something about records for people who value music. They want to know how it was recorded, the message behind it, and they have experiences when listening to it. You don't get that with iTunes," he said.</p><p>Tina Doyle Villella, a science teacher at Ocala's Howard Middle School, said she was inspired by her 17-year-old son Braden's interest in records to listen to vinyl again. She said the experience has brought her family closer.</p><p>"It's gotten the family together," she said. "In the car on the way to school, the kids will have their headphones on, and I'll put my headphones in while running, but we'll put a record on before dinner and just spend time with each other."</p><p>These are the stories motivating Ocala DJ Stephen Wexler to open his own record shop in downtown Ocala. HC Vintage Vinyl is still in the planning stages, but Wexler said he's encouraged by the community support shown on the store's Facebook page. He envisions a space where people can listen to and discuss records, as well as an outlet for local acts to hone their skills.</p><p>"I don't want it to be just a record store," he said. "I want it to be a musical experience, like a comic book shop for music nerds."</p><p>Wexler said he was attracted to vinyl because of the hunt it requires. He scours yard sales and record shops to find his favorite albums. The first two he bought were Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Prince's "Purple Rain."</p><p>"It's like treasure hunting. You just don't know what you'll find," he said.</p><p>He said the more record shops and outlets there are for young people to become involved with vinyl, the longer this popularity will last.</p><p>"I hope vinyl stays around for good. It's an amazing format," he said. "We have to get young people introduced and involved in this."</p>